Aalto Board to decide annual budget in June in future years

A meeting of the Aalto University Board was convened on 20 September 2017.

The Board discussed the University financial status from a variety of perspectives: the trimesterly management report (T2), the long-term financial plan and the general guidelines for the 2018 budget.

The Board was particularly satisfied with the effective implementation of the measures agreed with the Aalto University personnel in response to the budget cuts of 2015. The University has succeeded in securing competitive funding and has yet to explore some new opportunities.

The University has managed to reduce its overall space usage by 60 000 square metres, meaning we are steadily approaching our target reduction of 100 000 square metres. As a result, Aalto University has saved approximately 20 million euros in annual facility costs compared to 2012. The sale and renting of vacated up space allows the University to allocate funds to its core operations.

The Board supported the proposal to change the University planning process to better support the time span required for academic activities. From now on, the long-term financial plan will be prepared in the spring and the budget for the following year will be approved by the Board in June. This will ensure adequate time for implementing the measures planned for the next year. Better timeliness of recruitment and investments in research infrastructure will also be made possible by having a longer-term funding outlook.

The Board also approved the principles for the commercialisation of intellectual property rights.

The recruitment of the new HR Director and Provost has proceeded well. Both processes are almost finalized and will be communicated as soon as possible.

The Board welcomed the excellent process made with the campus transformation and reviewed the latest campus roadmap 2015-2030.